One of the biggest problems with trying to read Robin Edgar’s blog posts and comments is his use (or abuse) of language. His writings are riddled with all sorts of repetitive catch phrases coined or appropriated by him, and he often redefines words through the lens of his narcissistic obsessions. This is a guide to many of these, and we invite our readers to offer more examples of ‘Robin-Edgar-speak’

Abuse – any criticism of Robin Edgar by any Unitarian Universalist, however valid or constructive.

Asterisk – a frequently overused typographical symbol in Robin Edgar’s blog posts and online comments; even though he has shown himself quite capable of using boldface, italics and underlining, he continues to frame words with asterisks as a means of emphasis; considering his repeated commentary that the asterisk resembles a rectal sphincter, this may explain his obsessive overuse (see entry forAss, Asshole); this in turn may provide meaning to his constantly abbreviating ‘Unitarian Universalist’ as ‘U*U’ (read ‘you asshole, you’); note also his spelling out the word as ‘Ass-To-Risk’

Big Fat U*U – Meaningless attempt at an insult by Robin Edgar towards any and every Unitarian Universalist of whom he disapproves; considering that he has never voiced approval of any Unitarian Universalists, and the incredible amount of repetition in his blog and online comments, an especially meaningless phrase

Censorship – refusing to publish any of Robin Edgar’s comments, regardless of how offensive or irrelevant it may be; even though no effort is made to suppress his use of his own blog (actually several) to publish his views, he considers others’ refusing to let him hijack their blogs and media outlets for his own purposes to be an affront to his rights

Cowardly – anybody who chooses to question or criticize Robin Edgar anonymously, for whatever reason; all too often assumed by him to be a Unitarian Universalist

DIM thinking – a term of art appropriated by Robin Edgar to describe any disagreement with, or questioning of, any of his actions or allegations; if you do not agree with his belief that Unitarian Universalism is riddled with ‘injustices, abuses and hypocrisy’, and that he is justified in doing and saying whatever he wants in response (even when he makes unjust accusations, abusive statements, or behaves exactly as he accuses others of doing), then you are guilty of ‘DIM thinking’

Emerson Avenger – according to Robin Edgar, his ‘online persona’ for engaging in an endless crusade against ‘injustices, abuses and hypocrisy’ within Unitarian Universalism; another way of rationalizing his outlandish statements and behaviour by claiming that he is actually a nice and reasonable person, and that his ‘Emerson Avenger persona’ is merely a ‘form of satire’ in response to Unitarian Universalists refusing to give in to his repeated demands for ‘justice’; the problem is, Unitarian Universalists have so rarely seen him behaving ‘nice’ and ‘reasonable’, making it hard to tell which is the real Robin Edgar and which is an act

Googe hits – justification for Robin Edgar’s belief in his own relevance, importance and self-righteousness

Hypocrisy – label attached to any Unitarian Universalist who does not always listen to, or agree completely with, Robin Edgar

Insults – in the mind of Robin Edgar, a perfectly justifiable response to any criticism of his obnoxious, outrageous and offensive behaviour; since he views any such criticism as an insult (see alsoAbuse), he believes that he is in his rights to lash out at any Unitarian Universalist who disagrees with him, or even refuses to respond to his demands

Justice – Unitarian Universalists giving in to every complaint, demand and grievance of Robin Edgar, no matter how extreme or irrational

Kick in the balls – example of Robin Edgar’s frequent and repetitive use of violent imagery, in this case to exaggerate the importance or relevance of one Unitarian Universalist disagreeing with another, and often coupled with the bizarre claim that such disagreement justifies Robin Edgar’s outrageous behaviour and verbal attacks

Memory hole – final resting place for many of Robin Edgar’s more offensive comments on other people’s blogs (although he is notorious for printing them on his own blog, then accusing the other person of ‘censorship’); appropriated out of context from George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four

Peaceful public protest – real-time harassment of Unitarian Universalist groups and meetings, involving the use of handmade picket signs with bizarre statements; many times ‘documented’ by having Robin Edgar photograph or videotape himself; most frequent target of this tactic has been the Unitarian Church of Montreal, which terminated his membership after enduring almost two years of obsessive and outrageous conduct; also directed at perceived co-conspirators of ‘U*U injustices, abuses and hypocrisy’, such as Quebec’s Crown Prosecutors for following up on requests filed for restraining orders against him

Some – Apparently a reference to 99.9999 percent of Unitarian Universalists, or particular groups of Unitarian Universalists; Robin Edgar frequently prefaces his attacks on UUs with this word, as if to make the claim that he does not despise all UUs; the problem, of course, is that he has lashed out at so many UUs since the start of his crusade against alleged ‘injustices, abuses and hypocrisy’ that it is virtually impossible to know if he actually approves of any

Robin Edgar has certainly gone out of control lately. In his seventh blog post in two days, he reproduces his email communication to UUA President Peter Morales and others, announcing that he intends to file a formal complaint against Reverend Cynthia Cain.

Her crime? Publishing impressions and opinions on her blog.

On ‘A Jersey Girl in Kentucky,’ Reverend Cain talks about the behaviour and rhetoric of specific US Republicans, and how it distressed her. In his typical hyperbole, Robin Edgar not only accuses her of ‘demonizing and marginalizing’ Republicans in general, he calls on the recipients of his email …

‘to to take steps to personally ensure that my formal unbecoming conduct complaint against Rev. Cynthia P. Cain arising from her anti-Republican bigotry … and her other unbecoming conduct as posted to the interconnected web of the internet in her ‘OMG Mean Peopl DO Suck’ blog post, is handled in a manner that is very transparent and results in Rev. Cynthia P. Cain being subjected to some genuine and appropriate accountability for her conduct which is unbecoming of any minister, let alone a Unitarian Universalist minister.’

Not to mention demanding that Morales and other UUA leaders …

‘respond to this email in a timely manner to inform me about how you intend to deal with this formal unbecoming conduct complaint against Rev. Cynthia P. Cain in a manner that genuinely honors and upholds your publicly stated commitment to UUA transparency and accountability, and which clearly and unequivocally stands on the side of love for Republicans and all of those people who have been unjustly demonized and marginalized by intolerant and bigoted, or otherwise hostile and abusive, Unitarian Universalist clergy.’

Either Robin Edgar is incapable of seeing that Reverend Cain is clearly talking about the actions and words of certain Republicans, or it does not matter to him. Either he does not believe that UU ministers have the right to express their thoughts and feelings, or that they must somehow reach some bizarre level of perfection with regard to their psychological state.

Not to mention that Reverend Cain’s blog post is from September 3, 2008. It takes over two years for Robin Edgar to file a ‘formal complaint’ and yet he now demands that the UUA respond ‘in a timely manner’!

Aside from how obviously distorted and frivolous his complaint is, it is another example of how hypocritical this man is. Robin Edgar has gone out of his way to lash out at UUs, and especially UU ministers, with juvenile and profane insults which are even more ‘demonizing and marginalizing’ than anything he has complained about. He has even admitted that he is ‘deliberately rude and offensive’, and then attempts to rationalize and justify such outrageous behaviour. Yet he then declares that he is the authority who will determine which ministers are ethical and which should be punished – and woe to the UUA if they do not do as he says!

We hope and trust that Reverend Morales and the staff at UUA headquarters do indeed handle his complaint appropriately – as yet another attempt by this disturbed narcissist to gain attention and claim yet another reason to lash out at people who have better things to do than to stroke his ego.